The tragic story of a five-year-old cancer survivor killed by a runaway, driverless SUV outside her school in Downsview this week has touched off a huge outpouring of support for the little girl’s shattered family.
A GoFundMe account — set up by a close family friend who just wanted to do whatever she could to help Camila De Almeida Torcato’s heartbroken parents — has been flooded with donations in recent days.
“The people who really suffer from these type of events are the parents who have to live on without their child and they deserve all the support that they can get so they can find peace, without the financial stress that our society can create,” Ana Paula Carrera wrote on the GoFundMe page.
The online fundraising campaign had already raised more than $34,000 as of Wednesday evening.
Camila was diagnosed with cancer when she was three years old.
After enduring chemotherapy and multiple surgeries on her lungs and kidneys, she was well enough to start kindergarten at St. Raphael Catholic School near Keel St. and Wilson Ave.
Carrera described Camila as an “amazing” little girl.
“And strong like a rock,” she said.
Camila De Almeida Torcato (GoFundMe)
Camila’s dad, Amilcar Torcato, had just picked her up after school on Monday when tragedy struck.
Toronto Police have said the father was about to help his daughter into his Mecedes Benz SUV when an unattended Hyundai Sante Fe — left running by another parent picking up their child — rolled up a slight incline across Ianhall Rd. and pinned them against the driver’s side of his vehicle.
The father was not seriously injured but Camila was crushed by the Hyundai’s front end and did not survive.
No charges have been laid but the deadly incident remains under investigation.
Camila also leaves behind a two-year-old brother.
No funeral plans have been announced.